Communications Overview 416
Public vs. Private Information Basecamp allows you to mark certain items as “private”, which mean that only your group members and Dr. Chuck will be able to view them. No one from your client will be able to see these items. This is a useful feature for various drafts of documents, or any item that hasn’t been fully completed but still needs to be available to everyone in your group. It is up to each member in the group to decide whether information should be kept public or private regarding their specific tasks. Sharing of information is important to communication, but information concerning a specific project should be kept private within the group until it is completed. Some projects may have more than one group working on them simultaneously, and you might want to share some information between each other. This will help you as well as the other group. Tips for Communication Between Group Members 1) Work as a group, so everyone approves of the work. 2) Divide tasks up and make to-do lists. Nothing is more annoying than doing the same work more than once. 3) Meet with your group during the assigned lab sections. These are 3 hours twice a week. If you make it a point to meet at these times you will get more work done. 4) Make sure work to be completed between the group members is clearly defined in both time and scope. If do not clearly define the expectations you can't expect them to be finished. 5) Keep sponsor posted on what is going on. You never know when they will ask for something. 6) Keep to the deadlines that Dr. Chuck has posted (for the most part). 7) Distribute a list of contact information (hardcopy) to each group member which includes cell phone numbers. 8) Have fun!!! Conference Calls Setting up conference calls can either be done through Sloan 245, which requires reserving the room in the Sloan 210 office. The other option is call from Dr. Chuck’s office which required notifying and setting up a time with him prior to the call. Sloan 245 is the better choice because the room is much larger and the conference phone can pick up voices a greater distance away from it. From past experience it is recommended that using Dr. Chuck’s office should only be done as a last resort. Delayed Contact Sometimes, it's tough to get a hold of someone. This may be due to scheduling, confusion, or just because they don't want to talk to you. The key is to stay positive. Try all the means available to you, but don’t come across as pushy; E-mail, phone calls (but not too many messages, imagine the movie "Swingers"), base-camp messages. Make sure to keep Dr. Chuck in the loop. He has a certain pull with the clients, and he’s there to help. When you finally do get in touch with who you need to, stay positive. You may be in a time crunch, but you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar. Try to have your questions, needs and everything ready for the call. Then, set up a good time and way to contact them again. Multi-Section Groups Tips for having members in multiple sections of ME 416. Having a group meeting every week is a good idea after school, starting at the beginning of the semster. Duties for the projects might get skewed if the communication isnt sharp and direct between menbers. Using the Basecamp design clinic Basecamp might be a good idea so that "To-do's" can get completed and everyone is on the same page. Making a phone/email list (in Basecamp) to know how to contact each member is good because some members might not check phone messages/emails until the next day. After each weekly meeting, each section should know what tasks they will be doing during the week. Each section should split work separately and send the result to the other section via email. If there are any questions, bring them to the weekly meeting as well as other work you done during the previous week. When You Have a "difficult" Client No matter what you do in this world, you cannot avoid the fact that you will face bad clients. They will ask you to perform a task, and then upon delivery they change what they want, are abrasive with you, or just aren't respectful of your efforts to meet their specifications. The most important thing in this situation is not to be intimidated or let your emotions affect your side of the client-contractor relationship. In the case that the client says that you did something wrong that you don't agree with, or are not happy with your production, you must remain professional. The key is to be as clear and concise as possible. Make sure that after a bad meeting that makes you feel frustrated or at a loss, you should send a summary email that clearly communicates the summary of where your team is at and where the client wants you to be. The client is always right, and they will appreciate your continued communication throughout the friction during this time period. This builds trust as they know that your team is not hiding anything. Now, this is not saying that you are not doing what is needed, it is just that some clients are difficult to deal with no matter what you do. The biggest piece of advice that I can give after my experience, is that you will always have bad clients, so make sure that you build relationships with your good ones to enjoy the job. This will also help you read which type of clients you want to work for and surround yourself with good ones as you gain experience in your career. Category:ME 416 Help